Social Candy¦Single Review

It’s not a surprise that, at this point, I have become a big fan of the Australian based psychedelic rock group, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and it’s not just because of the amazing band name. Since 2016, the band has been absolutely nailing an intense, wonderfully colourful style of hazy rock that, for all intents and purposes, hasn’t let my ears down once. Both High Visceral Albums, as well as their B-Sides, contain some of my favourite pieces of music to come out of both 2016 and 2017.

So when, out of the blue, the band released a single by the name of Social Candy, with wonderfully odd, if not slightly disturbing cover art by Ben Giles and an equally odd music video released at the very end of august, I was rather hyped to say the least.

Of course, the track itself is full of the wonderful vibrancy of sound that has characterized the majority of the band’s discography, with the instrumentation of the track being rather hectic whilst not too overbearing or cluttered. Its sound is expansive and all-surrounding, yet it is clearly tightly focused, with a lot of thought clearly being put in to make sure that the track’s intensity isn’t pushed too far. I always find it wonderful to listen to a sound that’s full of fiery energy, yet very clearly well managed. Mixed with the hazy and sweeping delivery of the vocals from the band’s lead singer Jack McEwan, its musically engaging chord progressions and riffs, and its moments of jaunty discordance in its choruses; the track, musically, is a treat to be sure.

Like most of the discography of the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, the lyrics are cryptic and, well, slightly psychedelic (surprisingly). Full of trippy imagery and flights through abstract concepts, the images presented are especially strange to be sure, though not without meaning. To my mind, this track sparks the image of someone who struggles in social situations, believing themselves to be abnormal as a result, with Jack describing himself as ‘a vegetable’ and ‘the creation old mate Frankenstein had’. They try to stay in their own bubble, requiring the equivalent of an upper before even thinking about leaving it, as evidenced by the chorus, where the act of going out in society is compared to a mission to space. It’s an extremely lengthy, horrifying and dangerous process. It’s a wonderfully absorbing, and somewhat disturbing, image. An image which, upon reflection, I’m not sure necessarily fits with the performance of parts of the track. Granted, while the intensity of the chorus as well as its moments of discordancy do convey a feeling of stress and discombobulation, I feel the lyrics to the versus could have fit in better with the dynamic changes. Moments of calm, then intensity are common instrumentally, and I feel like the lyrics could have used these moments to emphasise the stress of the singer’s situation when compared to the moments of rest. As it stands, the lyrics don’t always fit the character of the music behind it.

That being said, the track is great fun, and whilst I would have been keen to see the lyrics fit the lyrics a little bit better, it does not detract from the enjoyability of the track, of which there is a huge amount of. I highly recommend giving the track a listen and getting lost in its musical landscape!

8/10

Social Candy is out now on Spotify, Google Play, Apple Music, and Bandcamp, and their new music video is now up on YouTube!